Before I start my review of the Forgetting Sarah Marshall Unrated DVD, I must mention that the movie and I are not on good terms. The film is about a slob named Peter (Jason Segel) who meets his ex, Sarah (Kristen Bell) in Hawaii with her new boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand). Wow, he finds a new girlfriend? It wasn’t the predictability that bored me, but the crybaby hero. I laughed a few times, but the movie paddles around for almost two hours. That said, let’s see whether I ship the film back to the rental store. Pay attention. This review may surprise you.
Last April, major critics worshipped Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a great Judd Apatow movie even though it was directed by Nicholas Stoller. Except for loser heroes and dick jokes, the film barely resembled titles like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Those were formulaic, yet unfolded realistically. Here, writer Jason Segel tries way too hard to keep his main character miserable and miscasts himself as the lead. What does the DVD add that makes this movie closer to a vacation then a chore?
Watching the unrated version rewards you with an extra scene starring the amazing Kristen Wiig. She’s an absolute mistress of disguise whether on SNL or the movies she’s starred in like Knocked Up and Semi-Pro. Here, she plays a hotel yoga instructor feeling horny for rocker Aldous in a very goofy way. The addition makes the first half of Forgetting Sarah Marshall the better half.
Two of the six deleted scenes should have been put back into the movie. "Airport Goodbye" provides more closure for Sarah. Peter sees Sarah off on her plane ride back to L.A. It’s a Judd Apatow-like moment: clichéd but more honest. In "What Are You Going to Do Now?" Brian comforts a depressed Peter. Peter mentions wanting to work on his vampire puppet musical and receives backhanded encouragement from Brian. This results in an exchange similar to the "You know how I know you’re gay" routine from The 40 Year Old Virgin. Brian questions why Peter likes musicals even though he dates women. Peter retaliates by making fun of Brian’s jacket.
“Line-o-rama” and “Gag Reel” are funnier than the actual movie. If you’ve watched Judd Apatow-produced DVDs, you know what “Line-o-rama” is. It’s a mash-up of improvised punchlines for jokes in the movie. The best part arrives when Paul Rudd’s surfing instructor character speaks Hawaiian Pidgin English which has its own rules and uses words like 'da kine.' “Gag reel” is full goofed up lines and general goofing around by the actors with the camera running. Fans of Russell Brand may enjoy viewing his character’s raunchy public service announcement “We’ve Got to Do Something” in its entirety. What I see in the movie is enough.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
I thought this was a really funny movie, though I could have done with several seconds less on-screen penis.
2 - Kevin Gustafson
The penis was the hard part when it came to editing Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Give them a break.;)